Chair heating / cooling attachment

ABSTRACT

A chair attachment for enclosing a source of warm or cool air beneath the chair includes a skirt for surrounding the legs and back of the chair. The skirt includes a front flap, side walls and a rear wall spaced apart from the chair back connected to the back edges of the side walls. The height of the rear wall is greater than that of the side walls for extending upwardly from the bottom of the side walls to the top of the chair back. Vents between the sides of the chair seat and the side walls and between the chair back and the rear wall of the attachment permit hot or cold air to flow from beneath the chair upwardly creating walls of warm or cold air around the sides and back of a person sitting in the chair.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a chair heating/cooling attachment, and inparticular to an attachment for a chair for enclosing a source of heator cold beneath the chair seat and venting hot or cold air around anoccupant of the chair.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The attachment of the present invention is intended for outdoor use on apatio or deck or close to a campfire. In cool weather, sitting near asource of heat results in warming of the front of the body only.According to one aspect of this invention, the attachment for a chairencloses the entire area beneath the chair seat. A source of heat orcool air is placed in the enclosed area. Ventilating openings betweenthe attachment and the seat and backrest of the chair permit hot air torise upwardly along each side of the seat and along the backrest forheating the occupant of the chair. At the same time the chair seat isheated by radiant heat. Likewise, a cooling medium such as ice can beplaced in the enclosed area beneath the seat to cool the person on thechair, and the attachment will retain cooled air beneath the chair seatand around the back of the user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In its simplest form, the attachment of the present invention includes askirt defined by a pair of side walls for extending between the frontand rear legs of a chair; a rear wall connecting the back edges of theside panels, the rear wall having a height sufficient to extend from theground to proximate the top of the chair back; and a front flappermanently connected to the front edge of one side wall and releasablyconnected to the front edge of the other side wall, whereby the skirtcan enclose an area beneath the chair and, when a source of heat isplaced in said area, the heat can rise through vents between the sidesand rear of the seat and the side and back walls of the skirt, andbetween the front of the seat and the flap to warm the occupant of thechair.

In a second embodiment of the attachment, the rear edges of the sidewalls have the same height as the rear wall and the front edges of theside walls have the same height as the flap. When the attachment ismounted on a chair, the side walls extend upwardly beyond the chair armsto retain the heat around the body of a chair occupant for a longerperiod of time.

In yet another embodiment of the invention, the top free end of the rearside of the attachment is permanently connected to a collapsible chairusing rivets or other connectors, and a pair of flaps are connected tothe front edge of the seat. The flaps can be folded away from each otherto permit access to the area beneath the chair seat. The result is acollapsible chair comprising a skeletal, foldable frame, a flexible,one-piece seat and back mounted on said frame, and an attachment forfacilitating heating or cooling of an occupant of the chair including askirt for extending around the legs of the chair to define an enclosedarea beneath the seat, the skirt including a pair of side walls, a rearwall and a front flap permitting access to the area beneath the seat,the rear wall having a height greater than the height of the side wallsand flap for extending upwardly to proximate the top of the chair back,whereby, when the side walls are connected to the chair arms and the topof the rear wall is connected to the top of the chair back at spacedapart locations, and a source of heat or cold is placed beneath thechair seat, hot or cold air can flow upwardly through vents between thechair and the attachment to heat or cool an occupant of the chair.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is described below in greater detail with reference to theaccompanying drawings, which illustrate preferred embodiments of theinvention, and wherein:

FIGS. 1 and 2 are isometric views of an attachment in accordance withthe invention mounted on a collapsible chair;

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of a second embodiment of the attachment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of the attachment of FIG. 3 mounted on acollapsible chair;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the attachment and chair of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an isometric view of the attachment of FIG. 3 mounted on acollapsible chair with a vented seat and back; and

FIGS. 7 and 8 are schematic, isometric views of the attachment of FIG. 3mounted on a fixed frame, non-collapsible chair.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows an attachment in accordance with the invention on anoff-the-shelf collapsible chair of the type including a frame defined bytubular front and rear legs 1 and 2, respectively and diagonal struts 3,which are pivotally interconnected to each other and to the legs 1 and 2for rotation between a collapsed condition and the erect condition shownin FIG. 2. Feet 4 are pivotally connected to the bottom ends of the legs1 and 2, and the struts 3 for supporting the chair in the erectcondition. A one-piece combination seat 6 and back 7 are connected tothe front struts 3 which extend upwardly through the front corners ofthe seat 6 to the front ends of the armrests 9. The rear ends of thearmrests 9 are connected to the rear legs 2, which extend upwardly abovethe level of seat 7 in the erect condition of the chair.

In its simplest form, the attachment is a one-piece flexible skirtformed of a fire resistant fabric. The skirt includes side walls 11 and12, a rear wall 13, and a front flap 14 connected to the front edge ofone side wall 11. The top ends of the side walls are connected to thechair armrests by rivets 15. The flap 14, which forms a continuation ofthe side wall 11 (FIG. 1), can be rotated between a closed position(FIG. 1) and an open position (FIG. 2) permitting access to the areabeneath the chair seat. Velcro® strips 17 and 18 on the front end of theside wall 12 and the free end 17 of the flap 14 are used to releasablyretain the flap 14 in the closed position. The rear wall 13 has a heightapproximately equal to that of the chair seat 7. The rear wall 13 isconnected to the top of the seat by spaced apart rivets 19.

When the attachment is mounted on a chair, the side walls 11 and 12 incombination with the rear wall 13 and the flap 14 surround an areabeneath the seat 6. There are two vents 20 between the sides of the seat6 and the side walls 11 and 12, and vents 21 at the top ends of thechair back 7 and the rear wall 13 between the rivets 19. The vents 20extend along the sides of the seat 6 and part way up the sides of thechair back 7. When a source of heat is placed in the area surrounded bythe skirt, heat rises to form walls of hot air on each side of the seat6 and in the area between the chair back 7 and the rear wall 13. Heat isalso vented through the gap between the front edge of the seat 6 and thetop of the flap 14.

There are many possible sources of heat which can be placed beneath thechair including heated rocks or bricks and hot embers. Placing theembers in a cast iron frying pan heats the pan, which retains the heatfor a lengthy period of time. When the attachment is used near a sourceof electricity, a light bulb can be used as a source of heat. A block ofice makes a good source of cool air.

With reference to FIGS. 3 to 5, in a second embodiment of the invention,the side walls 11 and 12 include generally triangular top ends 23extending upwardly beyond the armrests 9 of the chair. The front cornersof the side walls 11 and 12 are connected to the front ends of the chairarms 9 by rivets 25. The top ends 23 retain columns of hot air withinthe confines of the device for a longer period of time. Also, the frontflap 14 of the first embodiment is replaced with a pair of flaps 26,which form extensions of the side walls 11 and 12. The flaps 26 areconnected to the front of the chair seat 6 by rivets 28.

As shown in FIG. 6 the second embodiment of the device can be used withgood results on a chair having vents 29 and 30 in the seat 6 and theback 7, respectively.

FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate the use of a device similar to the device ofFIGS. 1 and 2 on a non-collapsible chair 32 such as a plastic lawnchair. The device is attached to the chair seat 6, back 7 and armrests 9by any suitable means such as adhesive or adhesive tape.

It is also possible to omit the front flap or flaps, i.e. to use a skirtwhich includes side walls and a rear wall only when the source of hot orcold air is external. When there is no front flap heat from a campfireor other source enters the area beneath the chair. The chair seat isheated by radiant heat, and hot air flows upwardly through the vents asdescribed above.

Finally, a skirt as defined above can be placed inside of the skeletalframe. In this embodiment of the invention, the side walls and rearwalls extend upwardly and out of the frame to the chair arms and back,respectively.

1. An attachment for facilitating heating or cooling of an occupant of achair having a seat, back, spaced apart legs extending downwardly fromthe seat, and arms extending outwardly and downwardly to the front ofthe seat comprising: a skirt for defining an at least partially enclosedarea beneath the seat, the skirt including a pair of side walls and arear wall, the rear wall having a height greater than the height of theside walls for extending upwardly to proximate the top of the chairback; whereby, when the side walls are connected to the chair arms andthe top of the rear wall is connected to the top of the chair back atspaced apart locations, and a source of heat or cold is placed beneaththe chair seat, hot or cold air can flow upwardly through vents betweenthe chair and the attachment to heat or cool an occupant of the chair.2. The attachment of claim 1, wherein said skirt includes a front flapfor permitting access to the area beneath the seat.
 3. The attachment ofclaim 2, wherein the side walls include triangular upper ends with rearends having the same height as the rear wall, and front ends having thesame height as the flap.
 4. An attachment for facilitating heating orcooling of an occupant of a chair having a seat, back, spaced apart legsextending downwardly from the seat, and arms extending outwardly anddownwardly to the front of the seat comprising: a skirt for extendingaround the legs of the chair to define an enclosed area beneath theseat, the skirt including a pair of side walls, a rear wall, and a frontflap permitting access to the area beneath the seat, the rear wallhaving a height greater than the height of the side walls and flap forextending upwardly to proximate the top of the chair back; whereby, whenthe side walls are connected to the chair arms and the top of the rearwall is connected to the top of the chair back at spaced apartlocations, and a source of heat or cold is placed beneath the chairseat, hot or cold air can flow upwardly through vents between the chairand the attachment to heat or cool an occupant of the chair.
 5. Theattachment of claim 4 wherein the side walls include triangular upperends with rear ends having the same height as the rear wall, and frontends having the same height as the flap.
 6. A collapsible chaircomprising a skeletal, foldable frame, a flexible, one-piece seat andback mounted on said frame, and an attachment for facilitating heatingor cooling of an occupant of the chair including a skirt for extendingaround the legs of the chair to define an enclosed area beneath theseat, the skirt including: a pair of side walls connected at front edgesto the sides of the chair seat, a rear wall and a front flap permittingaccess to the area beneath the seat, the rear wall having a heightgreater than the height of the side walls and the flap for extendingupwardly to proximate the top of the chair back and the rear wall havinga top edge connected to the seat back at spaced apart locations,whereby, a source of heat or cold is placed beneath the chair seat, hotor cold air can flow upwardly through vents between the chair and theskirt to heat or cool an occupant of the chair.